It may be nearing the end of 2009, but there appears no end in sight to rumors Apple is soon to announce its mythical tablet device. The latest talk comes from a site claiming Apple will unveil the tablet in January.

Citing “a very connected source”, Boy Genius Report wrote Wednesday a 7-inch tablet and a 10-inch tablet are in the wings.“Would we bet the farm on this? No, but they’ve [the source] been amazingly accurate for us in the past…,” BGR said.

Today’s report follows the Financial Times, which writes the tablet “is widely expected to launch imminently.” The London newspaper added the Cupertino, Calif. company “is preparing an announcement next month that many anticipate will be the official unveiling of its tablet.”

Yet another report – The Wall Street Journal – earlier this week reported the device could be released in March 2010.

Predicting when the tablet will be released and its appearance has become a cottage industry of sorts. Rumor had swirled that Apple was demanding an OLED display, prompting slippage of the production. Others have pointed to Internet messages indicating engineers flying to China during the holiday as reason to believe Apple was nearing an announcement. There have been reports the tablet offers “stunning graphics,” while even more speculation Apple was taking its time on the project.

No matter the rumor or speculation, the nexus is 2010. Whether it is early, mid or late next year remains unresolved.

About the author

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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